Wire-fence stay



Patented Apr. 4. I899.

2 I fynlgazgfor,

H. B. POFFENBEBGEB. WIRE FENCE STAY. (Lpphcat on filed 0e. 13 1898) (No Model.)

Nrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. POFFENBERGER, OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

WIRE-FENCE STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 622,259, dated April 4, 1899.

Application filed October 13, 1898.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, HENRY B. POFFENBER- GER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tifiin, in the county'of Seneca and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful ire- Fence Stay, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wire fences, and particularly toa fence-stay for use in connection with wire fences, the object in view being to provide a simple, strong, and durable, and at the same time ornamental, construction of fence-stay provided withmeans for detachably securing the same to the runners of a fence, the means of attachment being such as to facilitate the building of the fence and at the same time provide for readily detaching the stays from the runners when it is desired to replace a broken runner or remove the fence.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a View of a fence wherein the runners are connected by stays constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail View of a portion of one of the stays and the contiguous portions of the runners intersected thereby. Fig. 3 is an edge view of aportion of the stay detached from the runner, the key being omitted.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin all the figures of the drawings.

In connection with the runners 1 in the preferred embodiment of my invention is arranged a series of stays 2, which may be arranged, as shown in Fig. 1, to intersect less than the whole number of the runners of a fence. Preferably the stays of the upper series or those which intersect the upper runners of the fence are placed at greater intervals than those which intersect the lower runners, the lower runners of a fence usually being spaced closer together than those near the top of the fence. Furthermore, in order to provide for attaching the stay with facility to the runners I provide it at the points of intersection thereof with the runners with Serial No. 693,412. (No model.)

key-seats adapted for the reception of keys or pins 3, said seats being arranged longitudinally of or parallel with the stay, and hence transversely with relation to the runners. These keys intersect or span runner-seats or eyes 4, formed in the stays and into which are extended lateral kinks or offsets 5 of the runners, said kinks or offsets being engaged by the keys or pins, and thereby locked to the stays. The kinks or offsets are of a size to extend into the eyes of the stays, and hence when engaged by the keys or pins the stay is positively held from displacement parallel with the runners.

In the preferred construction the stay is of the hair-pin or looped type, with the legs or sides thereof intertwisted at intervals corresponding with those between the runners of the fence, and said runner-seats or eyes are formed by intermediate spread portions of these twists. For instance, in the construction illustrated the legs or sides of the stay are intertwisted, as shown at 6 and 7, respectively, above and below the deflected or spread portions forming the eye 4, and in practice I prefer, as illustrated, to form the upper twist 6 by one and one-half turns or coils of the legs or sides of the stay, whereby that leg which forms one side of the stay above a given twist 6 forms the opposite side. of the eye, as by this construction the untwisting of the members of the stay is prevented. These twists 6 and 7 are arranged in alinement and are centrally open to form the upper and lower alined portions of the key-seat which diametrically intersects the eye 4, and by using a key or pin of slightly-larger gage or diameter than the seat, whereby said key or pin must be driven into place in the seat, the accidental detachment of the stay by reason of the displacement of the keys is avoided. Preferably, also, the keys or pins are headed, and they should be inserted from above downwardly, whereby when in place the heads rest upon the uppermost coil of the upper twist 6. Obviously the constructionof the seat, as described, of a series of coils provides fora certain amount of transverse or diametrical resilience or yielding of the seat to allow the above-described forcing of the key or pin into place and the resulting frictional gripping of the key when seated. In other words, the

above-described key-seats are of contractile construction, and hence serve to clamp the keys or pins and prevent accidental displacement.

It will be seen, furthermore, that there is no interlocking or coiling of the runners with the stays. The stay embodying my invention is applied laterally to the runners to cause the lateral offsets or kinks of the runners to occupy positions in the eyes or runner-seats 4, whereupon the keys or pins are inserted into their seats to span the runner-seats or eyes and engage said offsets or kinks. Furthermore, it is preferable to arrange the body portions of the legs or sides of the stay at an interval, or, in other words, to separate or space the same, whereby they are laterally offset from the line of the key-seats, and hence in applying the keys or pins it is possible to employ a hammer between the sides of the stay to drive the keys to place.

Furthermore, in practice various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. A fence having runners provided with lateral offsets or kinks, a stay of hair-pin or looped construction having its sides or legs intertwisted at intervals to form verticallyspaced upper and lower coiled key-seats 6 and 7 arranged in alinement, the portions of the stay sides or legs between said key-seats being spaced apart to form eyes or runnerseats 4: in which the kinks or offsets of the runners are arranged, and the portions of the sides or legs above and below said key-seats also being separated, and headed keys fitted in said key-seats and spanning the eyes to engage the seated runners, substantially as specified.

2. A fence having runners provided with lateral offsets or kinks, a stay of hair-pin or looped construction having its sides or legs intertwisted at. intervals to form verticallyspaced upper and lower coiled key-seats 6 and 7 arrangedin alinement, the portions of the stay sides or legs between said key-seats being spaced apart to form eyes or runner-seats 4 in which the kinks or offsets of the runners are arranged, and the portions of the sides or legs above and below said key-seats also being separated, and headed keys fitted in said key-seats of larger diameters than the bores of said seats to fit frictionally therein, and spanning the eyes to engage the runners seated therein, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myown I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. POFFENBERGER.

Witnesses:

Guns. G. Donn, H. II. \VHEELER, 

